Rainbow Six: Extraction released on January 20th, 2022 and graced the consoles and PCs of gamers worldwide reaching over 3 million players in its first week (Gaming Bolt). The 3-player online multiplayer tactical shooter serves as a spin-off of the ever popular Rainbow Six: Siege introducing the Siege operators in what one could only describe as The Darkest Timeline—operators must work together to combat and defeat the sudden invasion of parasitic aliens known as Archaeans.
Now to call these creatures, “aliens,” seems a bit over-exaggerated. Yes, some may have interesting abilities and combat techniques, but realistically it feels more like if Back 4 Blood had decided to be more “tacti-cool.” There’s not much in the way that these creatures behave and attack to really differentiate them from any other zombie shooter that has released within the last five years or so.
That being said, the idea that this is a TACTICAL shooter adds a rather enjoyable mechanic to the mix that any Sam Fisher fan like myself would go nuts over. Rainbow Six Extraction encourages stealth over flare with scoreboards that showcase which of your fireteam of three had the most stealth kills within a mission. Mission objectives are much more easily completed with a little patience and steady aim as opposed to running and gunning.
Being stealthy is fun and all, but it means absolutely nothing if there is a problem in communication. Extraction is one of those games that requires each member being on the same page, so it is highly recommended (by myself) that you go in with a solid crew. Having played a few matches solo, it became almost unbearable to play being matched up with “SwallowsMic420” and “XxShoot_EverythingxX” and not being able to complete mission objectives that are otherwise very simple to achieve with proper communication.
The operators, as mentioned before, are all familiar faces to any Siege veteran with similar gadgets to their Siege counterparts. For Example, Lion has the ability to locate moving enemy targets within a given area, Alibi deploys holographic decoys to lure and distract targets, and Hibana makes things go boom. Before choosing your operator, you are given a mission brief that breaks down the three mission objectives your fireteam will embark on allowing you and your crew an opportunity to strategize which operators skillset and gadgets will work best.
All of this truly boils down to the overall opinion. Keep in mind, unless you have Xbox Gamepass (which honestly, you’re missing out if you don’t) this game comes in at $39.99. Granted it is $20 less than the average price of most AAA titles, there is one thing that jumps out at me and it’s that a majority of the things I found most enjoyable I could find in a game I already owned, Rainbow Six Siege. Had it not been free with Gamepass, I most likely would not have purchased Extraction. Maybe that’s just me and the 3-person PvE tactical alien/zombie shooter is enough to entice others, but I would be lying if I didn’t say that I thought this game was an enjoyable advertisement for Rainbow Six Siege.
Comments
It was a good read, you know I am curious how the hell this game came and went so quick. I feel it’s hype was there for like a week tops and now it’s fizzled. Anyone else have thoughts on this? Maybe its more a game for the completionist that strays my interest compared to the multiplayer title in Siege, where I can just brainlessly play or run it ranked.
To Eric, I’m glad you enjoyed it! Honestly, overall Extraction is not a bad game by any means! Just personally, it wasn’t for me and there was much left to be desired on my end.
Gonna have to check this one out 🤔
I spent the $40 myself, and I’m not regretting my decision to do so at all. For me, Extraction is exactly what I wanted out of Rainbow Six. Tons of progression in multiple forms, tactical gameplay with friends, and still being cheaper than any other game that would have this much content, if not less, I couldn’t have asked for anything better personally.